Volume LXIV (USPS 099–120) ISSN: 0734–0036 Portage, Penna. October 26, 2008 Number 10

HOLY RESURRECTION CHURCH

CELEBRATES 50 YEARS!POTOMAC, MARYLAND – OnSunday, September 21st—fifty yearsto the day—the Holy ResurrectionChurch in Potomac, Maryland cele-brated the Golden Jubilee of theparish’s founding. The anniversary ob-servance began with His Eminence,Metropolitan Nicholas being led inprocession to the front doors of thechurch by the parish altar boys, Dioce-san Archons, Church Council mem-bers and clergy. Here the Metropolitanwas formally greeted by Council Pres-ident John Hrapchak and IreneDzubak with the traditional gifts ofbread and salt. Father Peter Zarynow,pastor, offered the hand cross to HisEminence. Upon entering the church,the Metropolitan began the liturgicalprogram with the blessing of newicons. He consecrated eight new iconson the extension of the Iconostas and four new icons on the church walls.Iconographer Michael Piechochinski, holding a candle, led the Metropolitanas he made the sign of the cross on each icon, blessing them with Holy Chrism.

Hierarchical Liturgy

Following the blessing of the icons, the Metropolitan began the Hierarchi-cal Divine Liturgy. Assisting at the altar were: Father Zarynow, former pas-

tors Father R Michael Zak and Father Miles Zdinak; former parishioner FatherTheodore Mozes; Father Nectarios Trevino; Protodeacon Gregory Benc andDeacon Stephen Hall. The Church Choir, directed by Sheila Hrapchak, sangthe response chorally and in the traditional Carpatho-Russian Plain Chant.The church was filled to capacity, withan overflow of faithful participating inthe Liturgy in the parish hall throughclosed circuit TV. The hall was arrayedwith candles and icons to provide a“church-like” atmosphere for thosegathered there in prayer. Over 100worshippers came forward “with faithand love” to receive the Body andBlood of Christ in the Sacrament ofHoly Communion.

Archpastoral Homily

In his Archpastoral Homily, Metro-politan Nicholas congratulated the

Potomac parish on their manyachievements over the course of 50years. He reminded them as well oftheir obligation to give thanks to the

Lord for making their accomplish-ments possible. “In St. Luke’s Gospel,”the Metropolitan began, “we here thestory of the 10 lepers who were healedby Christ. Only one expressed anygratitude to the One Who had healedthem. Only one paused to offerthanksgiving to God—a Samaritan. Iimplore the faithful to follow the ex-ample of the grateful Samaritan. Youhave come a long way in 50 years—you could not have done anythingwithout Divine Guidance. You couldnot have done anything without theLord being at your side. When Godmakes manifest His goodness in theform of His precious Body and Blood,you need to give thanks. When Hespreads His Word through the ser-mons of your good pastor and the in-struction of your Church School

teachers, you need to give thanks. When He allows you to grow and progress—when you add new parishioners to your roster and implement new programsof service—you need to give thanks. Indeed, thanksgiving is the theme of thiscelebration. May the members of this parish continue to echo the sentimentpresented by King David in the Psalms: “O give thanks unto the Lord, for Heis good! And His mercy endures forever!”

Jubilee Banquet

Following Divine Liturgy, a Golden Jubilee Banquet was held at the nearbyWilliam Bolger Center. Roses were presented to His Eminence by Emily

Dzubak, Stephen Sudik and Matthew Breno. During the meal, a slide pres-entation was shown on a giant screen,with photos highlighting the parish’shistory. Serving as Toastmaster for theBanquet Program was Father Nectar-ios Trevino, pastor of the Nativity ofour Lord Church in Manassas, Vir-ginia. At one time, Father Nectariosserved as a Deacon for Holy Resurrec-tion Church. During the program,Mark Sudik, parish curator, presentedthe parish with an American flag thathad flown over the US Capital build-ing on April 27, 2008—the Fast ofPascha. The flag was given throughthe office of US Senator BarbaraMikulski of Maryland. Presentationswere also made to the parish by JuliusWest, representing CongressmanChris Van Hollen (8th District MD)

-cont’d on page 3

Metropolitan Nicholas prepares to consecrate new icons at the 50th Anniversary celebration of Holy Res-urrection Church.

“Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us.”

Page 2 THE CHURCH MESSENGER October 26, 2008

Published by the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese in the U.S.A. 312 Garfield Street, Johnstown, Penna. 15906

Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople His Eminence, Metropolitan NICHOLAS

Issued Monthly Periodicals Postage Paid at Johnstown, PA.

Yearly Subscription: $20.00 ($30.00 Canada)EDITOR–Very Rev. Protopresbyter Michael S. Rosco 145 Broad Street, Perth Amboy, New Jersey 08861 e-mail: MRosco2@excite.com fax: 732.826.5383

EDITORIAL STAFF

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Change of Address:POSTMASTER: Send Address Changes to The Church Messenger, Pani Betty Jean Baranik

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Please allow two or three weeks for changes of address.(USPS 099-120) ISSN: 0734-0036 Diocesan Web Site: www.acrod.org

This Lawsuit Doesn’t Have a Prayerof a Chance!

Most of us, I’m sure, have seensome version of the movie

“Miracle on 34th Street.” In thisChristmas classic, “Kris,” a SantaClaus at Macy’s in Manhattan, isabout to be committed to an institu-tion by the court for being delusionaland actually believing that, indeed, hewas truly St. Nick! But just in the“nick of time” (no pun intended!) thecourtroom is flooded with mailmencarrying in bags of letters addressed to“Santa Claus.” The judge had nochoice but to declare that since theUS Postal Service—a branch of thefederal government—delivered all ofthese letters to “Kris” then certainly,he must be the real Santa Claus!

Recently, a judge in a Lincoln, Ne-braska courtroom was faced with adilemma reminiscent of this famousmovie scene. Judge Marion Polk hadthe unenviable task of hearing a casewhere a lawsuit had been filed againstGod. Yes, you read that correctly: alawsuit against God! It seems that a

State Senator was seeking a perma-nent injunction against God, claim-ing that “God had made terroristthreats against him and his Omahaconstituents, inspired fear and causedwidespread death, destruction andterrorization of millions upon mil-lions of the Earth’s inhabitants.” In abrilliant bit of legal maneuvering, thejudge threw the case out of court, rul-ing that under Nebraska State Law, adefendant (God, in this case!) had tobe properly notified by mail of thecharges brought against Him. SinceGod has an unlisted address (andphone number, we might add!) thiscould not be done! Case dismissed!

Now just what was the honorableSenator’s motivation in all of this? Ap-parently, he took offense when someof his colleagues offered bills pro-hibiting certain types of frivolous law-suits. His position was: “Anybody hasthe right to file a lawsuit against any-body—including God.” Now put-ting his “legal logic” aside, the Senatorhas opened up a religious “can of

The Church as the Body of Christ

Growing up and living in today’sworld is challenging at best. For

Orthodox Christians, as for all Chris-tians, maintaining and adhering toour faith and raising a family withinit, grows increasingly more difficultwith the passing of each new day.Nowhere is this truer than right herein “The Land of the Free”, the UnitedStates of America. In this great landof opportunity, society often teachesus from an early age that what mat-ters most is the accumulation of ma-terial items, to live for today and thatjust about anything goes as long as itmakes us feel good. At times in thissociety we can feel all alone; but, weare not alone. We are never alone! AsOrthodox Christians we all belong toa great, living, breathing, caring andloving entity know as the “Church”,or as the Apostle Paul taught us, “TheBody of Christ”.

When St. Paul entered the Greek cityof Corinth, he found a society notunlike what we have here in theUnited States. He found there ahighly educated society devoted to thepursuit of pleasure and passion. Helived there for nearly two years as heconverted thousands to Christianityand created the Church in Corinth.He preached for all men to be part ofone body of the faithful in whichChrist is the head. “…Speaking thetruth in love, may grow up in allthings into Him who is the head-Christ from whom the whole body,joined and knit together by whatevery joint supplies, according to theeffective working by which every partdoes its share, causes growth of thebody for edifying of itself in love”(Ephesians 4:15-16).

St. Paul understood the powerfultemptations that faced mankind thenas they do today. He explained thatthis is why Christ created the Church.St. Paul went on further and ex-plained “No temptation has over-taken you that is not common toman. God is faithful, and He will notlet you be tempted beyond yourstrength, but with the temptation willalso provide the way of escape, thatyou may be able to endure it.” (1

Corinthians 10:13). As mere hu-mans, if we find that we do not pos-sess the strength alone, we mustremember that we are not alone.Look to the Church for healingstrength. Just as a wound to part ofour body is healed by the actions ofthe body as a whole, so are we healedby the actions of the Church as theBody of Christ. For if we believe inJesus Christ and participate in ourFaith through communion in Faith aswell as substance, then we are all partof the Body of Christ as St. Paul wrote“…so we, though many, are one bodyin Christ, and individually membersone of another.” (Romans 12:5) butthe Church is more than a body ofpeople united in Faith, it is a body ofpeople also united in substance,through our receiving of the HolySacraments.

Faith alone does not make us part ofthe Body of Christ. We cannot standalone, apart from the Church, neverentering or participating in it, andclaim that we are part of the Body ofChrist. We can no more exist as partof the Body of Christ than a severedfinger can live, and not decay, if notpart of the entire body. Our life inthe Body of Christ begins at baptism.As St. Paul wrote, “For just as thebody is one and has many members,and all the members of the body,though many are one body, so it iswith Christ. For by one Spirit wewere all baptized into one body…” (1Corinthians 12:12). Just as each partof our human body grows in strengththrough the exercising of the wholebody, so too, do individuals grow instrength of Faith through the partici-pation in the Church. No where doesthis come into play more thanthrough our active participation inthe Divine Liturgy. For it is at the Di-vine Liturgy that we gain nourish-ment and renew our existence withJesus Christ through the partaking ofthe Holy Eucharist, the receiving intous of the all holy and precious Bodyand Blood of our Lord God and Sav-ior Jesus Christ. He Himself madethis clear at the last super. “Jesus tookbread, and blessed, and broke it, andgave it to His disciples and said ‘Take,

-cont’d on page 5-cont’d on page 5

October 26, 2008 THE CHURCH MESSENGER Page 3

and Montgomery County Executive Isaiah Leggett. Daniel Breno, parish treas-urer, led the ceremonial burning of the mortgage—another major cause for cel-ebration that day. Carol Miller, Council Vice President and Rose Plowchin,Recording Secretary, presented “Founder’s Awards” to those current parish-ioners who attended the first Divine Liturgy 50 years ago. Former pastors Fa-ther Zak and Father Zdinak gave their personal greetings and shared theirremembrances of their pastorates at Holy Resurrection. The main address wasgiven by Metropolitan Nicholas. Father Zarynow offered his thanks to theAnniversary Committee and all of the parishioners who worked so diligentlyin preparation for the Golden Jubilee. All of the events of the day were pho-tographically chronicled by Joseph Parimucha, a member of the parish familyas well as the main architect for the current church complex.

History of Holy Resurrection Church

On September 21, 1958, a group of faithful Orthodox Christians gath-ered in the Resurrection Chapel of the National Cathedral (Episcopal)

in Washington, DC for the first Divine Liturgy celebrated for the newlyformed mission church. The late Protopresbyter John Yurcisin, DiocesanChancellor, was the celebrant. He was assisted by Seminarian ThomasBlaschak—who would later become the first pastor of the mission—and Sem-inarian Richard Smisko—who would one day become our own MetropolitanNicholas! For the first nine years of their existence, the mission used the facil-ities of the National Cathedral, which were gracious provided free of charge.In 1965, a home was purchased on 16th Street NW in Washington, DC. Afterextensive renovation, the first floor was transformed into a church and theupper floors into a rectory. The present church property was purchased in1976. The first Divine Liturgy at the current Carpathian style wooden churchwas celebrated on January 6, 1980—Christmas Eve.

Ordinations

DEACON MAXIMUS JERRY TATUM, ordained to the Diaconate of Sep-tember 28 at Nativity of our Lord Church, Manassas, VA and attachedto Nativity of our Lord Church.

SUB-DEACON MICHAEL SIVY, ordained to the Sub-diaconate on Sep-tember 28 at Nativity of our Lord Church, Manassas, VA and attachedto Nativity of our Lord Church.

SUB-DEACON JOSEPH BROWN, tonsured as Reader and ordained to theSub-diaconate on September 28 at Nativity of our Lord Church, Man-assas, VA and attached to St. Nectarios Mission, Lakeland, Florida.

READER GERASIMOS DANIEL SEAMAN, tonsured as Reader on Sep-tember 28 at Nativity of our Lord Church in Manassas, VA

READER GREGORY ZUDER, tonsured as Reader on June 1 at SS Cyriland Methodios Church, Mercer, PA

OfficialNotice

PERTH AMBOY, NEW JER-SEY – On Sunday, January 11,2009, His Eminence, Metro-politan Nicholas will celebratethe Fiftieth Anniversary of hisOrdination to the Holy Priest-hood. Protopresbyter MichaelRosco, Chairman of the Ju-bilee, has announced the fol-lowing details for this historiccelebration:

HIERARCHICAL DIVINE

LITURGY

Metropolitan Nicholas will cel-ebrate a Hierarchical Divine

Liturgy that day at St. John the Baptist Church, 145 Broad Street,Perth Amboy, beginning at 10 A.M. Several Orthodox and ByzantineCatholic hierarchs are expected to be in attendance. St. John’s is theMetropolitan’s home parish, and he was ordained there on January 11,1959 by the late Metropolitan Orestes of thrice-blessed memory.

GOLDEN JUBILEE BANQUET

Later that day, a Golden Jubilee Banquet will be held at The ForgeInn, 1002 Route 9 North, Woodbridge, New Jersey—approximatelya 10 minute drive from St. John’s. A Fellowship Hour will begin at 1P.M. with dinner being served at 2 P.M. Tickets are priced at $50 foradults and $15 for children 13 and under. Reservations can be madeby calling Father Rosco (732) 826-4442. When placing your ticketorder, you must designate your choice of entrée from the following se-lections: Prime Rib, Chicken Francese or Broiled Salmon. The dead-line for ordering tickets is: December 24, 2008. Checks should bemade payable to St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church.

OVERNIGHT LODGING

Special arrangements for overnight lodging have been made with theHampton Inn, 370 Route 9 North, Woodbridge, New Jersey. TheHampton Inn is in close proximity to The Forge Inn. A special rate of$99 is available for Friday, January 9th, Saturday, January 10th andSunday, January 11th. Reservations can be made by calling the hotelat (732) 855-6900 and asking for the rooms listed under “Metropol-itan Nicholas Anniversary.” Reservations cannot be made online. Thedeadline for room reservations is: December 24, 2008. Inquiries afterthis will not receive the special rate.

Any questions concerning this celebration should be directed to FatherRosco (732) 826-4442.

Preparations Finalized forGolden Jubilee Celebration for

Metropolitan Nicholas

+Father Theodore Timothy TepsicPHOENIX, ARIZONA – The Chancery has learnedof the recent passing of Father Theodore Timothy Tep-sic in Phoenix, Arizona. Father Tepsic was 82 years oldat the time of his death. A priest of the Serbian Or-thodox Church, he was a member of the faculty of ourChrist the Saviour Seminary in Johnstown, Pennsyl-vania in the mid 1960’s. He recently had published

with Father Jonko Trbovich a two-volume series on the lives of the saints,entitled “The Prologue from Orchid by St. Nikolai Velimirovic.”

May his memory be eternal!

-Potomac Visitation, cont’d from page 1

ENCLOSED IS MY CONTRIBUTION TO THE

DIOCESAN DONORS FUND FOR THE YEAR 2008:Name: ________________________________Address: _______________________________City: ____________ State: _____ Zip: _______Parish: ________________________________

Please make all checks payable to “2008 Distinguished Diocesan

Donors,” & send to:

Office of the Diocesan TreasurerDiocesan Administration Building

312 GarfieldJohnstown, PA 15906

Page 4 THE CHURCH MESSENGER October 26, 2008

The Cherubic Hymn

the Altar and the antimension (a cloth received from the the ruling bishop ofthe diocese authorizing the celebration of the Liturgy in the particular church,containing the relics of a Saint, and depicting the icon of Christ being takendown from the Cross and being prepared for burial), which the priest has un-folded during the Treble Litany. He then goes to the Table of Oblation to makethe Great Entrance with the bread and wine for the Eucharist.

History

The Great Entrance, like so many things in the Divine Liturgy, began withsimply a practical need to bring the bread and wine to the Altar for the

Eucharistic prayer.

On finishing the prayers we greet each other with a kiss. Thenbread and a cup of water and mixed wine are brought to thepresident (the bishop) and he, taking them, sends up praiseand glory to the Father of the universe (St. Justin the Martyr,First Apology, I:65).

This is St. Justin’s description of what we call the Great Entrance; the bread andchalice of wine mixed with water are presented to the bishop by the deacons.The simple description of St. Justin, written about 155 A.D., gives us the ori-gin of a ceremony that, in later times, threatened to eclipse the Eucharist it-self. Patriarch Eutychios of Constantinople (552-565 A.D.), writing 400 yearslater, complained about the spectacular processions that made up the GreatEntrance in his day. He felt they gave the misleading impression that Christwas already present in the bread and wine (Pg. 86:2400-2401).

How did this simple act of bringing the bread and wine to the Altar becomesuch an extravagant procession? For an answer we must turn to the beginningof the fifth century, to the preaching of Theodore of Mopsuestia, bishop andfriend of St. John Chrysostom. Although Theodore’s theological views werelater condemned by the Fifth Ecumenical Council as pro-Nestorian, his influ-ence in the liturgical life of the Church remained profound even in later cen-turies.

When the offering which about to be presented is brought outin the sacred vessels, on the patens and in the chalice, you mustimagine that Christ our Lord is being led out to His Passion(Baptismal Homily, IV:25).

Theodore thus instructed the newly-baptized in his cathedral in Mopsuestiato view the procession of the deacons bringing the bread and wine to the Altaras an icon of the Lord’s Passion. He goes on to compare the deacons to the an-gels who attended the Lord in Gethsemane and also to the Myrrh-bearingWomen who were present at the tomb of Christ. Theodore continues:

They bring up the bread and place it on the holy altar to com-plete the representation of His Passion. So from now on weshould consider that Christ has already undergone the passionand is now placed on the altar as if in a tomb.... the sacred,dread and incorruptible Body of Christ submits to being laidout on the altar, soon to rise again with an immortal nature...(Baptismal Homily, IV:26).

Not only did Theodore teach the faithful to see the burial procession of Christin the bringing of the gifts to the Altar, he likewise taught that the consecra-tion of the gifts and the distribution of them in Holy Communion was thesymbol of the Resurrection. Theodore envisioned the Altar as the symbol ofthe tomb in which the Lord was placed only to rise again.

Theodore’s symbolic interpretations were to have a great effect on the celebra-tion, and even the text, of the Divine Liturgy. His influence has already beenpointed out in the section on the Prothesis. Its effect will also be evident inother parts of the Liturgy.

There is no reason to believe that Theodore was being innovative in his inter-pretation. Rather, he was simply preaching what was the traditional exegesisof the Liturgy at the end of the fourth and beginning of the fifth century. Byurging the faithful to see in the Liturgy the burial of the Lord and His Resur-rection, he was not attempting to turn the Liturgy into a passion play at whichthe faithful were mere spectators. Rather, he was urging them to participate inthe Liturgy, to see it as an icon of the Lord’s Pascha, His Passover from deathto life. (Recall what was said about the meaning of symbol in the ancientworld.) It must also be remembered that the word remembrance in Scriptureand in the ancient world did not simply mean to recall a past event. Rather,in the words of the Orthodox theologian, Vladimir Lossky, remembrance is

-cont’d on page 8

One of the distinctive features of the contemporary Orthodox DivineLiturgy is the Great Entrance. It is during this Entrance that the celebrant,

accompanied by servers, forms a procession and transfers the bread and winefrom the Table of Oblation to the Altar by way of the north deacon door andthe Royal Doors in the center of the icon screen. In preparation for the En-trance, the singers begin the Cherubic Hymn: “We who mystically represent theCherubim and who sing to the life-giving Trinity the thrice-holy hymn nowlay aside all earthly cares....”

The Cherubic Hymn is interrupted at this point by the Entrance with thebread and wine. The celebrant intones a lengthy commemoration, mention-ing the hierarchs of the Church, the civil authorities, the benefactors of thechurch, and ends with the words: “May the Lord God remember in His King-dom all of you Orthodox Christians, now and ever and forever.”

The singers then chant the “Amen” and continue with the rest of the Cheru-bic Hymn: “That we may receive the King of all, Who comes invisibly es-corted by angelic hosts. Alleluia.”

The actual path of the Great Entrance varies considerably from church tochurch. Generally, in the churches of the Slavic tradition, the procession sim-ply moves from the Table of Oblation, out the deacon door, across the frontof the icon screen and into the sanctuary through the Royal Doors. In othertraditions the procession may go down the side aisle and then come upthrough the center of the church and into the sanctuary. This course is remi-niscent of the practice in the Middle Ages when the gifts were kept in theskeuophylakion - a small sacristy building next to the Church - and then car-ried in procession by the deacons to the priest or bishop awaiting them at theAltar. This still occurs in the Hierarchical Liturgy today where the bishop doesnot take part in the procession, but receives the bread and wine at the Altar.

As the Cherubic Hymn begins, the priest raises his hands at the Altar andprays:

O King of Glory, no one is worthy to come to You, to drawnear You, or to perform a service for You when he is bounddown by desires and pleasures of the flesh; for to serve You issomething grand and inspiring, even for the heavenly powersthemselves. And yet, because of Your ineffable and boundlesslove for mankind, though in nature unchanged and un-changeable, You became both a man and our High Priest and,as Master of all, conferred upon us the sacred power of offer-ing this liturgical and bloodless sacrifice, for You alone, O Lordour God, rule over all things in heaven and on earth and areborne on the throne of the Cherubim and are the Lord ofSeraphim and the King of Israel, Who alone are holy and abidein the saints. Still, I pray to You, Who alone are gracious andready to hear me: look favorably upon Your sinful and un-worthy servant, and cleanse my heart and soul from allthought of evil, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, enable mewho have been clothed with the grace of the priesthood tostand before Your holy Altar and to offer the sacrifice of Yourmost pure Body and precious Blood. I come to You with myhead bowed low and implore You: Turn not Your Face awayfrom me, nor exclude me from among Your children, but allowthese gifts to be offered to You by me, your sinful and unwor-thy servant, for it is You, O Christ, Who offer and are offered,Who receive and are received, and we give glory to You and toYour eternal Father and Your life-giving Spirit, now and everand forever. Amen.

The priest now receives the censer from the deacon (who has made a com-plete censing of the Church), prays the Cherubic Hymn three times and censes

October 26, 2008 THE CHURCH MESSENGER Page 5

eat; this is My Body’. And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks Hegave it to them. Saying ‘Drink of it all of you; for this is My Blood of theNew Covenant, which is poured out for many, for the forgiveness of sins.”(Matthew 26:26-28). Thus as Jesus Christ said, eat and drink of His Body andBlood so should we, and do we, at every Liturgy. This is the substantive partof the Body of Christ, that which without, we cannot be sustained in the Bodyof Christ. Just as our human body would loose strength and die without foodand water, so too, would our spiritual body die without the Body and Bloodof Christ. Thus the Church as the Body of Christ is indeed inextricably con-nected to the partaking of Holy Communion.

St. Paul explains this relation simply, “Because there is one bread, we who aremany are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Corinthians 10:17).Thus we all are connected to the Head of the Body of Christ. This union be-tween, we the many faithful of the Body and Jesus Christ the Head of theBody, the Head of the Church, is kept intact by Holy Communion. As a re-sult of this union with Christ, the church grows, and flourishes as one body,just as a human body when nourished, grows and thrives. As St. Paul wrote“…holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body nourished and knittogether through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is fromGod.” (Colossians 2:19).

Thus, we can now begin to see that the Church is not just an organizationfull of rituals to instruct us in its dogma and beliefs; but rather, that it is a liv-ing and loving entity. The Church is the very embodiment of the living Christhere on earth. It is the way and the only way that we as humans can be withand experience our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the closest union with Christ thatwe can have while we are alive here on this earth!

As imperfect humans we need the Church. We need the Church to guide us,teach us, to show us the way to cleanse ourselves from sin and to strengthenourselves to be victorious over sin and all its temptations. Christ never saidthat the road to paradise and everlasting salvation would be easy. Just look atwhat He endured on the cross for our sake, thus opening the gates of heavenfor us and showing us the way to the Father. It is not enough for Christ to loveus; we also have to show our love for Him. We accomplish this by uniting toHim through His body here on earth, through being part of the Church. Byour being part of the Church, the Body of Christ, we are energized by theHoly Spirit.

Again St. Paul wrote, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were calledto the

one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one Godand Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all. But grace wasgiven to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” (Ephesians 4:4-8). St. John Maximovitch commenting on the Church as the Body of Christsaid “Uniting ourselves with Christ, we receive divine grace which gives humannature strength for victory over sin and death, and the Lord Jesus Christ hasshown people the way to victory over sin by His teachings, and He grantsthem eternal life, making them partakers of His eternal kingdom by His Res-urrection. In order to receive that divine grace from Him the closest possiblecontact with Him is necessary. Drawing all to Himself by His divine love,and uniting them unto Himself, the Lord has united to each other those wholove Him and come unto Him, uniting them into one Church.” This Churchis the Body of Christ.

Deacon Robert-Alexander Hubiak

worms” with that statement. Just exactly what are our rights when it comes toour relationship to God? Do we have the right to question Him? Do we havethe right to blame Him for misfortunes and tragedies on a global, or even apersonal level? Do we even have the right to joke about such things? Do wehave the right to ignore or misinterpret God’s commandments to suit our ownneeds and lifestyle? Do we have the right to blasphemously “humanize” Himto the point of subjecting His Holy Name to public ridicule as was done in thislawsuit? I believe we all know the correct answer to these questions. Our“rights” in regards to God are simple: we have the right to worship Him…wehave the right to obey Him…we have the right to commend our life to Himand allow Him to work through us. Our “rights” really go no further.

Remember: we will all stand in His courtroom someday, and the “address” Hemay assign us to for all of eternity may not be in such a hot neighborhood—on second thought, it may well be very “hot!”

Protopresbyter Michael Rosco

Editor

The Church Messenger

-Editorial, cont’d from page 2

-Guest Sermon, cont’d from page 2

How well are your investments performing these days—retirement, sav-ings, property, stocks, bonds? How secure are they? Is your financial fu-

ture protected?

After months of stomach churning over sub-prime mortgages, the financialmarkets have recently shown themselves to be very fragile. People exposed tothe media shock-a-day culture of endless hype have expressed frank worries.The current Wall Street turmoil could easily convulse the national economy—and therefore the world economy as well. Not a news story goes by now with-out dark allusions to the Great Depression.

Anxiety and worry over the unfolding financial crisis lends itself to some soul-searching.

Reuters carries a story of a Bulgarian Orthodox monk, thirty-two year oldHristo Mishkov. Some five years ago Mishkov surprised everyone when hegave up a job as a successful broker on Wall Street.

Responding to the call of Christ, he moved into the broken-downTsurnogorski monastery outside of Sofia, Bulgaria. Now instead of brokeringfinancial deals in the millions, monk Nikanor, as he is called, milks cows andrebuilds the monastery. Instead of building up wealth for himself, the monkuses his business acumen and contacts to raise money for the monastery.

Reflecting on the convulsions in world-wide financial markets, Nikanor says“We always search for happiness in the outside world, in material things, whichmakes us constantly unsatisfied, angry with ourselves and the world.”

“We have so quickly lost our human appearance, we have become beasts ...There’s no-one to count on and say ‘hey neighbor come help me.’ He willcome but demand a payment,” the monk observes.

Nicanor’s remarks remind me of the parable Jesus told about a certain richman with a good crop who tears down his barns and builds bigger ones tostore his grain and goods. Happy and satisfied with his plenty, the man plansto live the life of ease. Then comes the door slamming in his face, the evidencethat his greed leads to a very dead end. God says to him, “You fool! This verynight your life will be demanded of you” (Luke 12:13-21).

What lessons can we learn from all of this?

Politicians routinely denounce Wall Street greed as the culprit. In a simplesense, this appears to be true. Greed is an ugly word. The Greek word for greedis “wanting more.” The truth be known our economic system gets its dy-namism and energy from a basic human desire to want more. This is not anew economic principle. “All toil and skillful work come from a man’s envyof his neighbor” (Ecclus. 4:4). Something like greed is always part of any deepexplanation of economic news, whether good or bad.

We say Wall Street is a place of arrogance that guides an insatiable, perverse de-sire for money. In other words, it’s not people like us who are responsible forthe mess. It’s all the fault of greedy wolves who feed on innocent lambs.

This is purely self-serving. By any one’s reckoning, one finds plenty of blindgreed everywhere in America. What could possibly motivate a person to buya lottery ticket other than a greedy desire for a payoff that any rational calcu-lation would show laughably unlikely? Who doesn’t know someone whobragged on and on about how much his or her house was worth during theheady years of the housing bubble? There is a great deal of panting after prof-its everywhere. I think this is called called sin. It is serious very serious. And itleads to a dead end investment.

St. Paul reminds us “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, thatthough he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you throughhis poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). No dead end investment.Monk Nikanor is an exemplar for us. He is rich in God’s grace. “Wantingmore” no longer, because he already has the glorious riches in Christ. We alllive no matter our present circumstances in the inexhaustible supply of God’sloving provision.

Dead End InvestmentGeorge Strickland, Ph.D.

Page 6 THE CHURCH MESSENGER October 26, 2008

YONKERS, NY--The parishioners of Saint Mary’sOrthodox Church in Yonkers, New York honoredtheir Pastor Emeritus and long time Pastor, Proto-presbyter Elias Kozar on the 60th Anniversary ofhis ordination to the Holy Priesthood which he cel-ebrated earlier this year.

The festivities started on the morning of September21, 2008, the Feast of the Nativity of the Mother ofGod and Ever-virgin Mary with a Divine Liturgycelebrated by Father Elias. Assisting Father Eliaswas Father Daniel Mahler, current pastor of SaintMary’s along with Altar servers Robert Silipigni andPaul Rydzanicz. At the conclusion of the DivineLiturgy Father Dan intoned “Many Years” for Fa-ther Elias and Matushka Anna who were also cele-brating their 60th Wedding Anniversary. Areception and dinner for Father Elias and MatushkaAnna was held afterwards in the Polish Center onWaverly Avenue in Yonkers.

Upon arriving at the Polish Center Father Elias waspresented with a boutonnière and Matushka Annawas presented with a corsage by Parish PresidentDorothy Dymek as they were greeted by many longtime friends including local clergy and parishionersof Saint Mary’s. In attendance at the receptionwere: Very Rev. Father John Beskid, Pastor of SaintNicholas Church on 10th Street New York Cityand Dean of the New York Deanery; Very Rev. Fa-ther Nicholas Pilavas Pastor of Prophet Elias GreekOrthodox Church , Yonkers, New York and Presi-dent of the Westchester Orthodox Clergy Fellow-ship and his wife; Very Rev. Father Jaroslav SudikPastor of Holy Trinity Orthodox Church, Yonkers,New York and his wife; Rev. Father CharlesJoanides, Pastor of Saint Nicholas Greek OrthodoxChurch, Newburgh, New York and his wife.

Opening prayers were offered by Very Rev. FatherJohn Beskid and Protopresbyter Elias Kozar and the

head table and honored guests were introduced byFather Dan.

Following the dinner, opening remarks highlightedthe life of Protopresbyter Elias and Matushka Anna,their accomplishments at Saint Mary’s and their re-tirement. In a congratulatory letter from His Emi-nence, Metropolitan Nicholas commendedProtopresbyter Elias for his dedication and servicein our Lord’s Holy Vineyard, to His Church, to ourDiocese for 60 years and especially to Saint Mary’sChurch and it’s parishioners for forty-five years. HisEminence wrote “We could recite a litany of manymajor accomplishments that can be credited toyour priestly ministry, both in the parish andthroughout the Diocese and her apostolates. Theseinclude your service as Consultor to the Bishop andmember of the Diocesan Consistory and Board ofTrustees in years past. These have all been honor-able positions, but the benchmark of your priest-hood can be found, not so much in building,fund-raising, renovations or chairing committees,but rather in the people you served so well.”

His Eminence went on to say “We know that thereare countless souls in the Yonkers area who havebeen strengthened through your priesthood, yourdevotion to people and your example. There arecommunity, civic and religious leaders who arethankful for your concern and awareness and in-volvement. In short, there are innumerable peoplewhose lives have been bettered by your life andideals.”

Father John Beskid, Father Elias’ successor as Deanof the New York Deanery read a letter of congrat-ulations from Very Reverend ProtopresbyterStephen Dutko, Pastor Emeritus of Saint Michael’sOrthodox Church in Binghamton, New York anda long time friend of Father Elias. In his letter, Fa-ther Stephen expressed his regrets that he was not

able to attend the celebration but offered his deep-est congratulations to both Father Elias and Ma-tushka Anna on their 60th Wedding Anniversaryas well as Father Elias’ 60th Anniversary of Ordi-nation to the Holy Priesthood. In his letter, FatherStephen spoke of Father Elias succeeding him atSaint Mary’s Church in Buffalo, New York uponhis ordination to the Holy Priesthood just as he haddone six years earlier.

Father Charles Joanides, pastor of Saint Nicholasspoke of Father Elias’ love for the Church, his com-mitment to our Lord and to Holy Scripture and thelove that he and Matushka Anna had for each otherand their family and how it transcends to his spir-itual children. He spoke of how Father Elias, whocovers Saint Nicholas in his absence, had learnedliturgical Greek and now speaks it fluently.

Parish President Dorothy Dymek reminisced andreflected upon Father Elias teaching ReligiousSchool one day a week in the large classroom at theold church on High Street and how MatushkaAnna worked so hard with the choir. She spoke ofhow outgoing and loving Matushka Anna was, es-pecially with the young children. President Dymekthen presented Father Elias and Matushka with agift from the parish as a token of their love and af-fection for the both of them.

Father Dan on the behalf of the Honorable PhilipA. Amicone , Mayor of Yonkers presented FatherElias with a proclamation citing all the achieve-ments of Father Elias during his tenure in Yonkersand congratulating him on the 60th Anniversary ofhis Ordination to the Holy Priesthood and that ofthe 60th Wedding Anniversary of Father Elias andMatushka Anna. The proclamation closed with thehonor of Sunday, September 21, 2008 being pro-claimed “Very Reverend Protopresbyter Elias Kozarday.”

Father Elias and Matushka Anna were then pre-sented with a cake in honor of this auspicious dayand were asked to make the first cut. Everyone en-joyed a piece of this delicious cake with a slice of icecream.

Father Elias was born on January 19, 1926 in Dick-son City, Pennsylvania, the son of Elias, Sr. andAnna Kozar. On January 25, 1948 he was marriedto Anna Yanoscik and he was ordained on February1, 1948 in Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church on10th Street in New York City. He was elevated toProtopresbyter in October, 1976 by His Grace,Bishop John. Father Elias served as Dean of theEastern Seaboard Deanery which consisted of NewYork, New Jersey and Connecticut; he served asPresident of the Westchester Orthodox Clergy Fel-lowship. Father Elias’ service to our Diocese in-cluded being a Consultor to the Bishop, a memberof the Consistory and the Board of Trustees. Formany years Father Elias served as Orthodox chap-lain to Yonkers General Hospital and Saint John’sRiverside Hospital.

Upon his retirement, Father Elias was named Pas-tor Emeritus by His Eminence, MetropolitanNicholas and served his last Divine Liturgy on Sun-day August 28, 1996.

Father Elias and Matushka Anna are the parents ofthree sons: Paul, Russell and Lawrence. They havesix Grandchildren and now reside in Newburgh,New York.

Parish Honors Pastor Emeritus, ProtopresbyterElias Kozar

Protopresbyter Elias Kozar and Matushka Anna prepare to cut their 60th Anniversary cake at the celebration commemorating this mile-stone in Father’s priestly life and their marriage.

October 26, 2008 THE CHURCH MESSENGER Page 7

Patriarchs, primates and representa-tives of Eastern Orthodox churchesrecommitted themselves to overcomeintra-Orthodox conflicts as well as tocontinue theological dialogues withChristians from other confessions at a10-12 October meeting in Istanbul,Turkey.

“Overcoming the internal conflicts ofthe Orthodox Church through thesurrendering of nationalistic, ethnicand ideological extremes of the past”is a requisite for the “word of Ortho-doxy [to] have a necessary impact onthe contemporary world,” reads amessage issued at the end of the meet-ing.

The message also affirms the partici-pants’ “desire to continue, despite anydifficulties, the theological dialogueswith other Christians, as well as theinterreligious dialogues, especiallywith Judaism and Islam”.

Fourteen patriarchs, primates and rep-resentatives of Eastern Orthodoxchurches gathered in the Phanar, the

see of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The meeting took placeat the invitation and under the presidency of Ecumenical PatriarchBartholomew - the “first among us,” according to the message.

“This has been an extremely important event in the life of the Orthodoxchurch,” said the World Council of Churches (WCC) deputy general secretaryGeorges Lemopoulos. “The message, calling mainly for inter-orthodox unityand collaboration, and spelling out an ‘Orthodox agenda’ as a witness to theworld, has a significant ecumenical dimension and will certainly impact thework of the ecumenical movement,” added Lemopoulos, an Orthodox lay-man from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Addressing some of the issues making headlines these days, the message linkedthe current financial crisis to “manic profiteering” and “corrupt financial ac-tivity”, while calling for a “viable economy” able to combine “efficacy withjustice and social solidarity”.

Regarding the conflict between Georgia and Russia over the breakaway SouthOssetia region, the Orthodox leaders commended both Orthodox churches for“their fraternal cooperation” and hoped that their “efforts will contribute toovercoming the tragic consequences of military operations and [to] the swiftreconcilement of the peoples”.

The meeting’s message condemns the “unjust inequality” in the sharing of “thegoods of Creation” by “individuals, or even peoples” as a consequence of “na-tionalistic, ethnic, ideological and religious” divisions. The results are wanton:billions of people deprived of basic goods; mass migration; nationalistic, reli-gious and social discrimination and conflicts; and destruction of the naturalenvironment and the entire ecosystem.

As Orthodox Christians “share responsibility for the contemporary crisis ofthis planet,” they also have “a major obligation to contribute to overcomingthe divisions of the world,” the message states.

Participants at the gathering welcomed “the proposal by the Ecumenical Pa-triarchate to convene Pan-Orthodox Consultations within the coming year” inorder to address jurisdictional and other issues that have “arisen from histori-cal circumstances and pastoral requirements, such as in the so-called Ortho-dox Diaspora”.

The Orthodox leaders also welcomed “the continuation of preparations forthe Holy and Great Council”. Preparations towards a major conciliar event ofthe Orthodox churches took place at the end of the seventies and in the eight-ies but slowed down when changes in Eastern Europe created new pastoralneeds and ecclesial challenges within the Orthodox world.

The message has been signed by the patriarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria,Antioch, Jerusalem and Moscow, the primates of the churches of Cyprus,Greece, Poland, Albania, and the Czech Lands and Slovakia, as well as repre-sentatives of the churches of Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria and Georgia.

Eastern Orthodox Summit Recommitsto Dialogue

WEATHERLY, PENNSYLVANIA--On October 12th and 13th , membersof the Diocesan Apostolate for Youth met at the Holy Protection Greek Or-thodox Monastery in Weatherly, Pennsylvania for a time of prayer and plan-ning. As the clergy arrived, they joined into the rhythm of monastic life as theyprayed, rested and ate according to the monastic schedule. On Sundayevening, Vespers was served in the monastery’s Saints Peter and Paul Churchfollowed by the evening meal. In a short time the call to prayer was heard onthe monastery bells and everyone assembled in the Church for Small Com-pline. By this time, it was already apparent that we had left the world behindand had entered in to the mystical paradise set out in the rhythm and pace ofthe Churches daily services. Following the service which ends in a mutualforgiveness, the nuns retired to their cells to complete their evening prayerrule and take their first bit of rest from the day’s activities. We joyfully followedtheir example since we were informed that the next service, a Paraklis, wouldbe served at four in the morning.

When we emerged from the guest house it was nearing a quarter of four in themorning, the fall Pocono air was fresh and clear, a full moon lit the groundswith an amazing brightness. From a distance, we noticed a soft light shiningin the windows beneath the church’s dome, preparation was already beingmade for the Paraklis service. When we entered the church, our eyes slowlyadjusted to the darkness inside and we could make out the movement of a fewnuns, the icons were surrounded by the glow from the hanging oil lamps;which was the light we saw in the windows. As we entered into the service,the darkness was no longer a hindrance, a candle was used only sparingly tolight the words of the texts and the church took on the expression and feelingof an infinite universe, walls seemed to slide away into the dim light, the faceof Christ, the Mother of God and Saint John the Baptist illumined by the oillamps stood out in the darkness. Soon a candle was placed on a tall stand onthe Amvon before the Royal Doors for the reading of the Gospel. Such animage; the Word of God, the Light of the world and that one small candlewhich filled the church with such a brilliant light! Following the service wetook a brief rest and began the day with a traditional breakfast of fresh breadand fruit.

Monday was dedicated to work, so as the nuns labored on the monasterygrounds we reviewed the progress made by the Youth Apostolate over the lastthree years and set forth plans for the next. In addition to continuing the pop-ular Daylight youth section of the Church Messenger and the youth orientedPilgrimages, the Apostolate set forth plans for future work which includes agreater focus on working within the Diocese and her organizations to en-courage and promote youth activity and to provide more resources for ouryouth who desire to become more involved in the Church on the local and na-tional level.

Some aspects of the work of the Youth Apostolate are visible, such as the Day-light news section or the organization of Pilgrimages, but much of the workgoes without notice as we struggle to provide the resources and avenues for ouryouth as they explore their Orthodox Faith. You can stay abreast of our youth’sactivities every other month in the Daylight section of the Church Messengeror by going to the DAY section of the Diocese Website at www.acrod.org.

Youth Apostolate Combines Workwith Prayer

Pictured are the members of the Diocesan Apostolate for Youth who were in attendance for the planningretreat: Very Rev. Fr. Miles Zdinak, Father Michael Chendorain, Father Andrew Fetchina, Father MatthewMoriak and Very Rev. Fr. Peter Paproski.

Page 8 THE CHURCH MESSENGER October 26, 2008

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October 25-26 Danbury, ConnecticutHoly Trinity ChurchConsecration of New Church

November 2 Seaford, Long IslandSt. Gregory ChurchArchpastoral Visitation

November 9 Richmond Hill, NYSt. Cyril of Turov Belarusian ChurchParish Visitation

November 16 Rankin, PASt. Michael Church100th Parish Anniversary

Schedule of Metropolitan Nicholas

“the revelation of a reality that is always present in the Church” (Mystical The-ology, London: 1947, Pg. 189).

For Theodore, as for other Christians of his time, the Liturgy was the revela-tion of the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord, events which, though theyhappened long before, were still operative, still experienced through theLiturgy as realities that were present in their lives.

With this understanding, the ceremony of the Great Entrance, which inTheodore’s day was done in respectful silence, came to symbolize the burialprocession of the Lord and was gradually embellished and expanded. In latercenturies, we find that certain Patriarchs and bishops deemed in necessary toremind the faithful that the bread and wine were not consecrated at this pointand should not be adored.

Previously, we saw how this variation affected the Rite of Preparation. The “Suf-fering Servant” passages from Isaiah chapter 53, and the ceremonial sacrificingof the bread, now identified as the Lamb of God, were based on this interpre-tation of the liturgical rubric. This understanding also led to the icon of theCrucifixion or the Prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane becoming popularover the Table of Oblation.

After the Great Entrance, the priest prays the Tropar of Holy Saturday andcenses and covers the gifts: “The noble Joseph, having taken down Your mostpure Body from the Cross, wrapped it in clean linen, and laid it in a newtomb.” This again shows the symbolic association between the bread and winebeing placed on the Altar and the body of Christ being placed in the tomb.

Another Interpretation

St. Nicholas Cabasilas (14th century) popularized another interpretation ofthe Liturgy, though it almost certainly pre-dates him. This interpretation,

still quite popular, sees within the Liturgy not simply the Death and Resur-rection of Christ, but His whole life from Birth to Ascension. In this view, theGreat Entrance represents the Entrance of the Lord into Jerusalem on PalmSunday. This perspective is frequently encountered today, although, some-times, both views are harmonized so that the Great Entrance encompasses allof Holy Week! (Again, these “interpretations” are really counter-productive toacquiring an understanding of the Liturgy today. Please refer back to the re-marks on this in the Rite of Preparation.)

These interpretations both charged the simple act of bringing the bread andwine to the bishop at the Altar, as described by St. Justin Martyr, with a divinepresence. A ceremonial procession befitting the “King of kings” was then de-veloped around it.

By the 14th century, it became the custom to kneel during the Great Entrance.Many churches today preserve this practice, though, again, bishops and priestshave continually reminded the faithful that the gifts are still just bread arewine at this point.

Three Cherubic Hymns

Actually, it is a bit incorrect to speak of the Cherubic Hymn, for, in fact,there were many, and three continue to be used. The most familiar is “We

who mystically represent the Cherubim...” This hymn is dated by most schol-ars to the sixth century and is normally sung at every Liturgy except for thoseon Holy Thursday and Holy Saturday. The hymn of Holy Thursday is, “OfYour Mystical Supper, O Son of God, accept me today...” The hymn of HolySaturday begins, “Let all mortal flesh keep silence....,” which is also found inthe ancient Liturgy of St. James.

St. Maximos the Confessor (+662 A.D.) wrote that the singing of the Cheru-bic Hymn and the Great Entrance were “The revelation of the mystery of oursalvation” (Pg. 91, Mystagogia).

The words of the Cherubic Hymn and the ceremony of the Great Entrance callus to prepare ourselves to enter into that Mystery of our salvation through theEucharistic Prayer and the reception of Holy Communion. In fact, the Greekword hypodexomenoi, usually translated as “we may receive,” means literally, “toreceive under one’s roof, to entertain, to welcome.” By sharing in the Lord’sPassion and Resurrection, by the reception of His Body and Blood, He bringsus to the new life in His Kingdom, of which the Church Herself is the icon.To “receive the King of all” means to receive Him through the Mystery ofHoly Communion. It is in this way that He shares His life with us.

-Spiritual Insights, cont’d from page 4

October 26, 2008 THE CHURCH MESSENGER Page 9

Just about every Orthodox boy atone time or another has wanted to

be a priest. Regardless where thethought occurs and how it is nur-tured, in younger years there is also adesire to be many things.

There never was another seriousthought running through my mind asa child growing up other than to be-come a priest. The mystery of partic-ipating in the Divine Liturgycelebrated in our parish church in anintriguing language, with the cele-brant compellingly vested, the cate-chism classes attended in preparationfor First Confession seemed to be animpelling invitation to seriously con-sider the priesthood of Christ. Per-haps it really began each night beforeretiring when my father gathered mytwo brothers and me for a round ofdaily prayer in Old Slavonic. At thattender age, how I loved the sound ofthat inviting language because it wasso familiar growing up first genera-tion American among European im-migrants. Or it might have been myrather meager attempt to play prieston the radiator top in my parents’bedroom with towels draped over myshoulders, made-up books, a bor-rowed stem glass as a chalice andsome bread from the sliced varietybought at the local store or actuallymade by my mother.

Whatever intriguing or captivatingthoughts about a life vocation crossedmy mind, by the time I became a highschool senior and began thinkingabout a life career, it was easy to re-vert once again to the reality of priest-hood. Somewhat more mature, onerealizes priesthood is far more than acombination of all the other issueswhich provide satisfaction and fulfill-ment because it is a life dedicated tothe service of God and is a responseto His invitation. But is it for me?The question always arose: “Do I havea vocation?”

Some people immediately conjure upa picture of an angel coming downfrom heaven and saying in stentorianvoice, “I want you!” When Christchose the first priests, the apostles, Hedid so in a very ordinary way. He waswalking along the Sea of Galilee andsaw Peter and Andrew who were fish-ermen, casting their nets into the sea.He said to them, “Come, follow meand I will make you fishers of men.”At once they left their nets and fol-lowed. It was as simple as that.

A vocation, though, is not like blondhair. Either you have a vocation oryou do not. A vocation is more like asmall plant, an important seed whichmust be cared for and encouraged togrow. The young man who doesnothing to constantly encourage hisvocation will wake up one morning tofind he lost it somewhere along theway.

In retrospect, having been reared in aparish where there was very little re-spect for the parish priest among whattoday would be called anticlerical be-havior which was the result of the af-termath of the anti-celibacy fightswhich prevailed at the time amongformer Greek Catholics. In silence Iwas gravely offended by what priestshad to endure because people did notknow what they were doing. How Iwanted to make up for their glaringlack of faith! It is remarkable that theparish did in fact produce a goodlynumber of priestly vocations, perhapsdue to the genuine need such adverseand negative thinking and activityproduced. Our God used the bad andevil to activate holiness and uprightpurpose if onlookers would onlyrightly observe.

Having been particularly active in thelocal youth organization and parishchoir, always on call and eager to re-spond to needs in the parish, I foundit fulfilling, even enjoyable doingwhat had to be done at the church.

Having learned but little about theseminary in advance, and that duringthe brief weekend spent in Johnstownfor the solemn blessing of the Cathe-dral in May, 1954, exactly a year priorto beginning studies, I was excited bythe newness of the grandiose churchand the rather recent opening of theschool for priestly formation. Wewould be beginners, traveling a newpath, starting a new educational tra-dition in the Diocese. And arrival atChrist the Saviour was inspiring sincethere would be five new students be-ginning studies in our class. It was his-torically the first such large class,equaling the number of other stu-dents at that time.

When the time arrived and I appliedfor seminary admission and havingbeen greatly gratified at acceptance,excitement overtook me as the neces-sary arrangements for clerical collar,cassocks, required liturgical texts hadto be procured. It was interesting tolearn the only direct means of trans-portation between my hometown andJohnstown was by air. Havingshipped my library and other vitalneeds before hand, I was able to de-

part for a new experience in travel aswell as in life.

The growth of the enrollment de-manded an increase in staff and wemet a newly appointed prefect and ex-tended seminary faculty. It was quitea discovery to learn we wouldn’t besleeping on boards and that all of us,as future priests, were eager to lead agood life. The old Strayer mansionand estate, which housed the semi-nary and was being enlarged due toexpansion of enrollment, contributednot only to excitement, but to confu-sion as well. Volunteers from thecathedral parish were constantlyaround after their shift work at thesteel mills and we were invited, actu-ally expected, to assist them in nailingup plaster board, removing unneededitems from the work areas and gener-ally being as helpful as possible. For-tunately, my experience in assistingmy father who was acarpenter/builder and cabinet makermade the task easier and responsibili-ties lighter.

I was assigned to a room on the sec-ond floor immediately to the right ofthe main stair case and along with Fa-ther Andrew Hutnyan and Metropol-itan Nicholas became room-matescramped in a small space. The othernew students in our class, FathersThomas Blaschak and RonaldHazuda, were assigned elsewhere.Each day we were greeted early morn-ing by the Overseer of Order, referredto as the “double O,” with the prayer,“Through the prayers of our holy fa-thers, O Lord Jesus Christ, Son ofGod, have mercy on us,” whichwould be repeated if necessary untilwe responded with “Amen.”

At the insistence of the Most Rev-erend Bishop Orestes, the traditionsof his alma mater, St. John Seminaryin Presov, Slovakia were maintained.Adjusting to a rigorous schedule wasimportant as so much had to be in-cluded in priestly formation.

At a hierarchal Liturgy in the Cathe-dral Church, we were initiated intoseminary life, presented with blessedcassocks and took an oath of obedi-ence to our superiors followed by an

explanation of seminary expectationsand rules by the Prefect of Discipline.All the priests made an extra effort tobe welcoming, warm and encourag-ing. And we responded in kind.

The daily prayer life included morn-ing devotions in the temporary chapel(actually the main entrance hall), fol-lowed by the daily Divine Liturgy atthe Cathedral. This was followed bybreakfast and classes. Meals were al-ways comforting and more than ade-quate. Before retiring for the nightboth vespers and evening prayers werecelebrated at which the seminarianssang the responses. On weekends ves-pers was celebrated in the Cathedralafter which mandatory confession ofsin took place and we participated inone of the Sunday Liturgies there aswell. In time we were assigned to as-sist in teaching classes in the religiouseducation program of the parish,which at that time was rather largeand extensive

Since learning is both formal and in-formal, in classroom and beyond, wewere exposed to a whole variety oflearning experiences which would en-courage our spiritual formation. Be-yond classroom experience, there wasleading the chant of the Church atvarious services in the Seminary andCathedral, inspired by the guidingpresence of Prof. Andrew Panchisin,Cathedral Cantor. Visitation of thesick in area hospitals became a prior-ity after the Saturday morning prayerand cleaning sessions.

Two of us were assigned responsibili-ties: I to assist in the Chancery Officeand Metropolitan Nicholas to be li-brarian and create order with thebook collection.

Perhaps most significant was thewarmth, camaraderie and life-longfriendships which this period in ourlives initiated. The charity and devo-tion of which our Lord so incessantlyspoke was being put to the test as tenof us lived together with our pre-fect/superior on the Mount as it wasthen affectionately called.

We were pioneers, establishing a re-sponse to priestly vocation with a tra-dition that has endured. In corporatenumber, we were establishing thebasis and purpose of the new school.By the time we were called to thegrace of priestly ordination, the en-rollment increased to some seventeenseminarians. By our sacrifice and ex-ample, the spiritual lives of our peoplewas assured and academic advance-ment would take place when state ap-proval was received for licentiate andbachelor decree accreditation Welearned the rightful place of all stu-dents was in the protective bosom andcare of Christ and His Church!

Very Rev. Fr. Robert E. Lucas

AS I REMEMBER IT

Pictured are the 1956 faculty and students of Christ the Saviour Seminary: (front row, left to right) Fr.Stephen Sedor, Fr. Andrew Kertes, Fr. Nicholas Woloshuk, Fr. Peter Molchany, Metropolitan Orestes, Fr.John Yurcisin, Fr. John Zeleniak, Fr. John Rusyn and Fr. Peter Buletza; (back row, left to right) CharlesPanchisin, Robert Radasky, Robert Lucas, Ronald Selva, Michael Hubiak, Ronald Hazuda, MichaelSlovesko, Andrew Hutnyan, Richard Smisko and Thomas Blaschak.

Page 10 THE CHURCH MESSENGER October 26, 2008

BARTON, OH--On Saturday, April 10, 2008, Harv and Kim Hurley and 5of their grandchildren were received into St. Nicholas Church in Barton. In thefront row are Natalie, Christopher, Emily, Madison, and Alison Street, andKim Hurley. The back row includes sponsors and family, Teresa and FaithZitterich, S. Harvey Hurley, Sam and Nicholas Zitterich, Anna Greene, Mar-ilyn and John Brady, and Fr Michael Kabel.

RAHWAY, NJ--The Sunday School program at St. John the Baptist Churchin Rahway, NJ began the year with a “ Back to School Night.” Following Ves-pers and a fellowship Dinner, the parents had an opportunity to meet theteachers and learn about the upcoming year’s curriculum while the students as-sembled IOCC Health Kits which will be sent to the Gulf Coast of Texas andLouisiana to help with the ongoing Hurricane relief programs. Larissa Lee isthe Director of the Church School. The Rev. Andrew Fetchina is the Pastorof Saint John the Baptist.

ENDICOTT, NY--Mr. and Mrs. John Komar offering thanks on the cele-bration of their 60th Wedding Anniversary.

LANSFORD, PA - On the Feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God, a spe-cial Birthday Party was held for Mary by students of Saint Nicholas ChurchSchool, Lansford, PA. The students made special birthday cards, held can-dles, sang “Happy Birthday Virgin Mary” and shared in a cake prepared by oneof their church moms.

DANBURY, CT--The third week of our Diocesan Camping session, from July27th to August 2nd, found five Latino students from Danbury, CT (KaitleenVilla 7, Lourdes Aucay 17, Jonathan Arce 17, Luis Ortiz 16 and Francisco Re-quena 21) participating at Camp Nazareth where they enjoyed the opportu-nity to be involved with kids of different ages and cultures.

Over the week there were many opportunities for discussions and conferenceswhich were very educational and interesting. The students were able to askquestions and express their opinions. The discussions were guided by Fr.Michael Macura, Fr. Peter Paproski, Fr. Luke Mihaly, Fr. John Pribish and Fr.Michael Chendorain with the topic of the week “My grace is sufficient for you,for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (II Corinthians 12:9).

Holy Trinity Orthodox Church of Danbury, CT with Very Rev. Luke Mihalyand Fr. Gregory Justiniano are working to continue the relationship with theSpanish community in the greater Danbury area with services in Spanish to theTheotokos and St. Nectarios, on Wednesdays at 7 pm at 74 Joes Hill Rd. Dan-bury, CT.

ENDICOTT, NY-- Pictured are the students of the First Holy ConfessionClass of St. Mary’s Church in Endicott, NY. They are: David Mastro,Cameron Ziller, Stephen Mastro, Meaghan Mastro, Cara Miklos, AlexisLaBourveau. Also shown is the Very Rev. Fr. Michael Kleban, Pastor, and Mrs.Linda Bundga, Teacher.

October 26, 2008 THE CHURCH MESSENGER Page 11

WALDORF, MARYLAND – On Sat-urday, September 20th, the faithful ofSaint Thomas Mission in Waldorf,Maryland, along with visitors fromArizona, Delaware, New Jersey, Penn-sylvania, North and South Carolina,and Virginia gathered for the Hierar-chical Divine Liturgy, celebrated byHis Eminence, MetropolitanNicholas, and for the ordination ofthe Sub-deacon Steve Hall to the Di-aconate.

Arrival of His Eminence

His Eminence arrived Saturdaymorning to the ringing of the

church bell and a warm welcome bythe crowd who had gathered to infor-mally greet the Metropolitan and Pro-todeacon Gregory Benc, and toreceive their Bishop’s blessing. Whilethe faithful continued to arrive andfind their places in the house-church’schapel, living room, dining room andbasement fellowship hall, our Bishopgreeted the visiting clergy – Fr.Michael Rosco, Dean of the Washing-ton, DC Deanery from Perth Amboy,NJ, Fr. Miles Zdinak from Windber,PA, and Fr. Peter Zarynow from Po-tomac, MD. His Eminence, escortedby altar servers Ryan Harris and JaredKarbowsky, Archons George Smisko,John Hrapchak, Joseph Parimucha and Nicholas Yakubik, Sub-deacon SteveHall and the visiting clergy, processed to the formal welcoming at the entranceof the Church. Anna and Bob Meinhold offered the traditional gifts of breadand salt, and Father Joseph presented the hand cross to our Chief Shepherd.Also present were Mother Thecla, Abbess, and Mother Helena from theMonastery of Saints Mary and Martha in Wagener, South Carolina.

Hierarchical Divine Liturgy

The limited space around the Holy Altar was crowded, as was all of thehouse-church, but a spirit of Christian love prevailed among the 150 or

so souls who had gathered to give thanks to our loving God in prayer. In his

Archpastoral homily, MetropolitanNicholas spoke at length about thehistory of servant-hood and sacrificeby the deacons in the Church, fromher very beginnings described in theActs of the Apostles, down throughthe place of the diaconate in the localparish today. He also recalled for usthe life and death of the ArchdeaconStephen, first martyr of the Church.

Responses to the Hierarchical Liturgywere led by parish cantor Marc Blay-doe, assisted by the Reader AndrewSingle—a founder of St. Thomas Mis-sion and now of SS Peter and PaulChurch, Windber, PA; Dr. DonaldKoval of Christ the Saviour Cathedral,Johnstown, PA and Dr. Steve Paczoltor Holy Resurrection Church, Po-tomac, Maryland.

The Ordination of the new deacontook place following the consecrationof the Holy Gifts, by the laying on ofhands by His Eminence, by hisprayers, the responses of the people,and by the grace of the Holy Spirit.The Liturgy then resumed, and thenew deacon chanted the Litany ofSupplication and received Holy Com-munion at the Altar for the first time.

Reception

Areception and brunch followed at the nearby Middleton Hall, where chil-dren of the parish welcomed Metropolitan Nicholas with singing and flo-

ral presentations.A display of St. Thomas’ proposed new church building hadbeen set up to encourage contributions to the parish building fund. The re-sponse was very generous! The reception also offered an opportunity for theparish to welcome home Commander Dana Dewey, just back from deploy-ment in Afghanistan. Metropolitan Nicholas thanked Dana for his service tohis country. He also recognized the service of Katherine Beauchamp andWilliam Howl, both of whom were present after returning home in recentmonths from deployments to Iraq.

On Sunday, the new deacon served alongside Protodeacon Gregory at the Hi-erarchical Divine Liturgy at Holy Resurrection Church in Potomac, celebrat-ing the fiftieth anniversary of the parish.

Ordination Highlights Metropolitan’s Visit to Waldorf

LIKE CAMP IN THE SUMMER?THEN YOU’LL LOVE IT IN THE FALL!!

National Jr. ACRY Weekend EncounterNOVEMBER 7, 8, & 9TH, 2008 AT CAMP NAZARETH

COST: $50 FOR THE WEEKEND FRIDAY – SUNDAY

If you can only attend Saturday night dinner, cost is$15.

The weekend will include a Trivia Game, Religious Talk,Flag Football, Divine Liturgy and a Dance.

On Saturday Night, we will have a dinner celebrating the

Jr. ACRY on its 25th Anniversary. Bring your old pic-tures to reminisce with friends.

Who can attend?ANYONE!

You don’t have to be a Jr. ACRY Member to attend.

Please RSVP by October 30th to Rachel Pribish at(908)-354-1384 or rprib@stnicholasnj.net (please put“Jr. Encounter” in the subject line & include the agesof those you are RSVP’ing for!)

JOIN US IN CELEBRATING 25 YEARS!!

NATIONAL JR. ACRY WEEKEND ENCOUNTER

Page 12 THE CHURCH MESSENGER October 26, 2008

PE

RIO

DIC

AL

Choir Classic Recordings Available in CD Format

Two choral masterpieces recorded by St. Michael’s A Capella Choirunder the direction of Edward Sedor in Binghamton, NY, have beenre-mastered and released in a CD format.

The Christmas and Easter CD includes 15 selections of both tradi-tional carols and the Liturgical music of Christmas, as well as sixLenten melodies and 11 selections of the Easter Paschal music.

The Divine Liturgy CD features the choir and Fr. Stephen Dutko ren-dering the Liturgy in Church Slavonic.

Copies are available at a cost of $15 each, including shipping and han-dling. Checks payable to “St. Michael’s Choir” should be sent toJosephine Sedor, 113 Zoa Avenue, Johnson City, NY 13790.

Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation

Publication Title: The Church Messenger Publication Number: 099-120 Filing Date: 10-1-08

Issue Frequency: Monthly

Number of Issues Published Annually: 12 Annual Subscription Price: $20.00/year U.S.; $30.00/year Canadian

Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication: 312 Garfield St., Johnstown, PA 15906

Contact Person: Betty Jean Baranik Telephone: 814-539-9143

Mailing Address of Headquarters of Publisher: 312 Garfield St., Johnstown, PA 15906

Publisher Address: American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Diocese

312 Garfield St., Johnstown, PA 15906

Editor Address: Very Rev. Protopresbyter Michael Rosco

145 Broad Street, Perth Amboy, NJ 08861

Managing Editor: Betty Jean Baranik

540 Dorothy Avenue, Johnstown, PA 15906

Owner Full Name and Address: American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Diocese

312 Garfield St., Johnstown, PA 15906

Publication Title: The Church Messenger Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: 8-31-08

Extent and Nature of Circulation Avg. No. Copies Each Issue No. Copies of Single Issue

During Preceding 12 Months Published Nearest to Filing Date

Total Number of Copies: 5,900 5,900

Paid/Requested Outside County Mail 5,101 5,010

Subscriptions Stated on Form3541

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on Form 3541

Sales Through Dealers and Carriers n/a n/a

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Other Classes Mailed Through USPS: 34 31

Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation: 5,414 5,314

Free Distribution to Outside County 279 273

as stated on Form 3541

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stated on Form 3541

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mailed through the USPS

Free Distribution Outside the Mail 56 45

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Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation: 94.12% 94.30%

Signature of Statement of Ownership, to be printed on 10-26-08 issue of this publication.

Date: 10-1-08

NEW YORK - The naming of bish-ops and the work of campus ministryled topics at the Joint Committee ofOrthodox and Catholic Bishops’ 24thmeeting in Daphne, near Mobile, Al-abama, October 1-3. ArchbishopOscar Lipscomb, retired archbishopof Mobile, Alabama, hosted the meet-ing. Archbishop Lipscomb and Arch-bishop Seraphim of Ottawa andCanada, currently serving as Admin-istrator of the Orthodox Church inAmerica, co-chaired the meeting.

Participants reviewed how bishops arenamed in their churches. ArchbishopLipscomb presented for the Catholicside, citing The Code of Canon Law.The Orthodox bishops described theprocess in their jurisdictions, whichvaries from church to church.

Bishop Tod D. Brown of Orange,California, reviewed the 1985 Pas-toral Letter on Campus Ministry ofthe National Conference of CatholicBishops. Father Mark Arey, the Gen-eral Secretary of the Standing Con-ference of the Canonical OrthodoxBishops in the Americas (SCOBA),described how Orthodox ChristianFellowship promotes an Orthodoxpresence on college campuses.

Evening discussions centered on re-cent events, including the visit ofPope Benedict XVI to the UnitedStates last April, the withdrawal of theJerusalem Patriarchate from NorthAmerica, the upcoming visit of theGreek Orthodox Patriarch of Antiochto the United States, the “FormingConsciences for Faithful Citizenship”document of the United States Con-ference of Catholic Bishops, the in-clusion of the Moscow Patriarchate inSCOBA, the election of a new pri-mate of the Orthodox Church inAmerica, recent plenary meetings ofthe USCCB, and relations betweenthe two Romanian Orthodox juris-dictions in North America.

On October 2, members examinedthe recent agreed text of the interna-tional Orthodox-Catholic dialogue,“The Ecclesiological and CanonicalConsequences of the Sacramental Na-ture of the Church: Ecclesial Com-munion, Conciliarity and Authority.”Also known as “The Ravenna Docu-ment,” the text was adopted by theinternational dialogue in Ravenna,Italy, October 13, 2007. Bishopsviewed DVD recordings of talks onthe document by two members of theinternational commission, FatherPaul McPartlan, of the Catholic Uni-versity of America, and MetropolitanKallistos Ware, assistant bishop in theOrthodox Archdiocese of Thyateiraand Great Britain. They also heard apresentation of the 1997 USCCBdocument, “Reflections on the

Orthodox-Catholic Bishops ExamineNaming of Bishops, Campus Ministry

at Alabama MeetingBody, Cremation and Catholic Fu-

neral Rites” by Archbishop Daniel Pi-

larczyk and comments by Archbishop

Seraphim and Metropolitan Christo-

pher of the Serbian Orthodox

Church. Father Mark Arey and

Paulist Father Ronald Roberson of the

USCCB’s Secretariat for Ecumenical

and Interreligious Affairs then re-

viewed the relationship of the

Catholic and Orthodox churches to

the Oriental Orthodox Churches.

The next meeting is expected to be in

October 2009, in Syria, hosted by the

Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchate.

The committee was established in

1981, and is sponsored jointly by the

Bishops’ Committee for Ecumenical

and Interreligious Affairs of the

USCCB and SCOBA.

Catholic members of the Committee

include Archbishop Lipscomb, Car-

dinal William Keeler of Baltimore;

Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk of

Cincinnati; Bishop Brown; Bishop

Dale J. Melczek of Gary, Indiana;

Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of

Phoenix, Bishop Nicholas Samra, Tit-

ular Bishop of Gerasa; Bishop

Richard Sklba, Auxiliary of the Arch-

diocese of Milwaukee, Wisconsin;

and Father Roberson, staff.

Orthodox members are Bishop

Seraphim, Metropolitan Isaiah of

Denver (Greek Orthodox Archdio-

cese), Metropolitan Christopher (Ser-

bian Orthodox Church),

Metropolitan Nicholas of Amissos

(Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Dio-

cese), Archbishop Nicolae (Romanian

Orthodox Archdiocese in America

and Canada), Metropolitan Gerasi-

mos of San Francisco (Greek Ortho-

dox Archdiocese), and Father Arey,

staff.